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Letters from the Doghouse: When a dog pulls on your heart strings

By CHANDRA LYNN SMITH

Letters from the Doghouse

Posted:
01/25/2013 01:00:00 AM EST

Q. I watch those ASPCA commercials and cry. It makes me want to go adopt every dog there. Why, even my own dog can give me such a pitiful look when he messes up that I almost want to accept the blame for his behavior and not punish him. Help!

A. I'm with you on the commercials. There are some jobs I know I could never do, and, one of them is work at a dog pound. I'd end up bringing all un-adopted dogs home with me. And, I believe few dog owners are completely immune to their own dog's pitiful I-didn't-mean-to-do-it look. That being said, it is important for us to figure out how to disconnect our hearts from pitiful puppy dog eyes.

SMITH

Remember the definition of the word discipline? The verb is defined: 1: to punish or penalize for the sake of enforcing obedience and perfecting moral character, 2: to train or develop by instruction and exercise especially in self-control. The noun usage is: 1: punishment 2: instruction 3: a field of study 4: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.

If, in the course of correcting your dog he gives you the pitiful pout and makes you feel like it is your fault, stay the course. Do not, for any reason, stop correcting your dog and cuddle him. One time giving in to his look will take a long time to undo. Why? Because dogs understanddiscipline. He messed up. He knows it. He expects correction.

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It's what his mother did, why would his master not?

If you look at the definition again, not all of it is punitive.

Every dog needs three things to be a happy dog. And, they need them in this order; exercise, discipline and affection. Leave off any one of the three and you will have behavior issues with your dog. An un-exercised dog will become destructive and hyper. More than anything else, your dog must have exercise daily. An un-disciplined dog will become unruly, disobedient, dominant and defiant. It is a slow regression into all of those behaviors, but they will all turn up. And they are more difficult to correct than to prevent.

You must ignore the pleading eyes of a dog that has blatantly disobeyed. You must stand firm and be your dog's master. After the discipline - whether it is corrective, punitive, or justinstructive - when the dog is behaving then you can lavish as much affection as you want withoutdamaging the human/canine relationship.

And, when faced with those pitiful puppy eyes, remember how ineffective it was when you were a child and you gave that look to your mother. Your dog will benefit from learning the samelesson you did.

Chandra Lynn Smith owns Best Friend Dog Training. She holds a bachelor's degree in animal bioscience, has eight years experience as a veterinary technician, and is a certified professional dog trainer from the National K9 School of Dog Trainers. She's been training dogs since 1984. You may address your questions to her via email at ChandraLynnS@gmail.com, BestFriendDogTrn@aol.com or by mail to The Evening Sun, c/o Chandra Lynn Smith, 135 Baltimore St., Hanover, PA 17331.

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